Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan

At Your Servicemodel-in-chief, instill values such as filial piety, responsibility, inter-generationalcaring and respect amongst family members. Sadly, these values are amiss in oursociety today. To protect and support the families to be strong and resilient, wemust return to basics. We must return to developing family and communal values.The FAMILY is the primary source to developing a comprehensive social system.Family is where we all learn vital and fundamental skills which determine one’scharacter and resilience. While every family is unique, there are some core valuesthat bind us all which cuts across culture, ethnic and religion.Respect is the recognition that everythingand everyone is just as important as we are.Honesty simply means telling the truth.Responsibility means having a sense of duty and keeping to one’s moral obligationsand being accountable for one’s actions. Caring means the show of humanity,sympathy and/or mercy to our fellow human beings.Strength of character infused with respect, honesty, responsibility and care definesthe backbone to a society. These invaluable values have to be imbued back intoour cradles at home.For the Ministry, developing a caring society built on a strong and resilient familyinstitution remains our core focus, regardless of challenges of the times.The Family First: Bring Your Heart Home Campaign launched by the Women, Familyand Community Development Ministry in 2003 has been instrumental in changesto regulations and incentives.This include increase in paternity leave from three to seven days, and medical benefitsfor public sector employees being extended to their parents. It also include threedays compassionate leave for death of immediate family members, tax incentivesfor companies which conduct familyrelated activities, tax relief for children whopay the medical expenses of their parents and increase in the eligibility criteriafor financial assistance particularly for vulnerable families such as single mothers,families with disabled persons and elderly. In 2004, we introduced an accessiblecounselling service for a whole family through the Kembara Kaunseling programme.This programme spanned the spectrum for adolescents, adults and couples.58